~The MCME Times~ [11/09/14]

Minecraft Middle Earth is a Minecraft community that recreates the world described by JRR Tolkien and his writings. Everyone can participate in organized events in which we collaborate to create major landmarks, terrain, caves, castles, towns, farms and more.

Enforcer

Another week has gone by and I'm sure you would all like to know what has been happening on the MCME servers. Well, we've made some advances when it comes to projects with quite some projects hitting small landmarks with the completion of subsections of the larger project. Additionally this MCME times was written before the eyes of our watchful staff meaning some of the project updates are much more detailed (Finrod even wrote a personal report on the misty mountains!)
This week I would also like to introduce you to a new segment called 'The secrets of Khazad-dûm' which is a written tour of moria with background info on the lore and the server side of the project.

__Project Progress

Annúminas (In Progress):Things are slowly progressing in Annúminas, with more houses being completed and @jacenpeter adding in a wool design proposal for the court building of Annúminas. There's very few plots left when it comes to submerged houses so if you still want to get in on that check out this post and get building asap.
Dol Amroth (In Progress): Not too much happened this week, as many people are still working on their gatehouses. @Ryanturambar has been toying with some different dock styles though, so perhaps we'll see those change once he and @demonataz get together and discuss things.

Harithilien Part 3 (In Progress): The terrain in Harithilien is now finished, and @iSMiTHz urges you all to take a look at the more mountainous route in eastern Harithilien. With terrain being done the area is being populated with trees and bushes, as well as the addition of watchtowers and villages. In the picture above you can see @MrScarface981 working on his Norwegian willage.

Misty Mountains (In Progress): Redhorn Pass is fully completed and the texture pack is on its way. For all that can't wait for it can adjust their packs on their own by following this guide:

The texture pack update may take a bit longer than expected due to a few other things being included in that update. To avoid confusion I cant share unofficial packs but for those that cant wait to see the mountains in their proper look you can change your packs by your own, heres what you do:

1. Go to your .minecraft folder. (on windows search in the Start menu for "%appdata%")
2. Navigate to ...\.minecraft\resourcepacks
3. Open all MCME zip files (yes, all four!) and navigate in each pack to \assets\minecraft\textures\blocks
4. For the stony texture: search in the Rohan.zip the file named "planks_jungle.png", copy it to your desktop, rename it to "hardened_clay_stained_cyan.png" and put it into the Eriador and the Loth pack.
5. For the flowers:
- Search "flower_tulip_orange.png" in Gondor pack and copy it to Eriador and Loth pack (no renaming)
- Search "flower_rose.png" in Lothlórien pack, copy to desktop, rename to "flower_houstonia.png" and put it into Eriador and Loth pack. (Yes the Loth pack then has twice the same texture in it).

(Also to be found in the respective Project Thread)

Furthermore, work is going on and the new Walls of Moria can be found at /warp moria west gate. Also @KlemensPlusLukas and @DSESGH are currently voxelling in the misties.
Overall Mountains of Moria Progress: 7/26 sections done, 4 WIP

Paths of the Dead (In Progress): After completion of the previous cave @Despot666 has started work on a new part of the Paths of the Dead: the main city hall and throne room. The recently finished area looks wonderful and I have good hopes this area will look even better.

Osgiliath (In Progress): @jcw2003 has finished his Osgiliath mini project this week save for the siege equipment that still needs to be put in place. Additionally the sewers have been completed by a bunch of pizzas and podadoes. Now all we need is an expert on fluid mechanics to help figure out what would happen to a palantir if it were to fall in a river.

Miscellaneous:@DSESGH is digging out a new Deeping Stream. It has been unfinished ever since we copied over Helms Deep to the new map.@Jetfire301 has been working on repairs for the Rammas Echor. Though all the new repair areas have been finished they still need a staff member to go around and put in some double ladders.@K1sk1BBab35 is sprucing up the shire with some lovely new trees. If you want to have a go at building some trees check out this post.

__Media of the Week

Finrod just finished the Redhorn pass and though there is no better way to experience it than taking a hike two of our wonderful community members have provided good alternatives. First of is an amazing screenshot by @el_schnarcho. It does really feel like a crisp clear morning in the mountains.

Sunrise over the Redhorn pass

For those of you who want a more immersive experience @pheonixsang has created a video in which she traverses the pass in a days time. It has some amazing views and a good atmosphere.The Redhorn Pass in one day
There's been many more cool screenshots this week though so I would advise you to check out this thread by scharcho, and this thread by pheonix.

__Status UpdatesPromotions:-none

Resignation:
-none-

__Meet the Staff

Name: DynoDaring64
Age (optional): old enough
Country of Origin: Canada

How did you find out about MCME and when did you join?
Much like many others I found MCME by google searching the internet and came across a video (not Jesse Cox) that showed a tour of the server. I applied for whitelisting and got accepted (Apr. 20th 2012) but didn't log on until May 5th because my minecraft updated to 1.2 and the server was the previous version.
What was it like when you were an adventurer (thrall/commoner) (droog/member)? Any nostalgic moments?
When I first joined (it was Droog) and I remember walking to Bree where there was a job board where you click on a sign and were teleported to the middle of Rohan (for example) and could spend hours grassing a plain with bonemeal. My 1st major job was Nindalf 1.0 spent a TON of hours working there creating the marsh.

Why did you apply/shoot for Enforcer in particular?
I have not really ever tried for a specific rank. I got Guide first while digging in the Adorn river and out of the blue was asked by @Ryanturambar if I was interested in Guide. I said yes. After about 8-9 months there was an opening in the Officers rank where you could apply for the job on the forums. I put my name in mostly to take a more active role in preserving MCME.

Is there any type of architecture or server job that you enjoy working on the most? Why?
I've never considered myself an Artist level builder but I have enjoyed doing numerous builds in Bree and Rohan and a random house somewhere in Osgo. I also have a fond loved of losing oneself in the various river digs with other players both in game and via teamspeak.

What is your favorite thing about MCME?
It's been said by many others but most definitely the community of people. It still amazes how a very wide diversity of players worldwide come together in a singular purpose of creating something from a much loved book series.

Do you have any other hobbies outside of MCME (besides MC and gaming)?
As far as hobbies outside MCME it's all about reading, and both listening to music and playing music. (Tho it can get hard to find time to pick any of my guitars sometimes). Also a fan of many other pc/console games. I still get together with 2 friends once a week to play an NHL season at a buddy's house.

__The secrets of Khazad-dûm

Welcome travellers and explorers. If you want to learn what is hidden in the dark depths of Khazad-dûm you have come to the right place. I will guide your way through the black depths and show you those places that are off the beaten path. I will give you background information about the lore as well as server anecdotes. But most importantly, I will show you some pretty old easter eggs, something which seems irresistable to the average minecraft player.

To get to our starting location simply warp Khazad-dûm, copy and paste will help you if you can't make thîs wôndêrdûl symbôl.

Doors of Durin

Welcome to the western entrance of Khazad-dûm, the doors of Durin, connection between the dwarves of Khazad-dûm and the elves of Hollin. The doors which were built by Celebrimbor and Narvi, initially remained open at all times, but in the war of the elves and sauron they were sealed shut. Invisible to the naked eye when closed the only way to find them now is to wait for star- or moonlight to illuminate the ithildin that forms patterns on the door. It will reveal the sentence:"Ennyn Durin Aran Moria. Pedo Mellon a Minno. Im Narvi hain echant. Celebrimbor o Eregion teithant i thiw hin."
"The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter. I, Narvi, made them. Celebrimbor of Hollin drew these signs."

The Old Mine

As we enter the darkness that lies behind the Doors of Durin we find ourselves in a small hall. It shows clear signs of abandonment, a large crack in the floor being the most significant. As we climb through the large hole in the floor we see some dark tunnels to our left, home to the new residents of Khazad-dûm: the goblins. Feel free to explore the maze before moving on.
After the hall we'll have to climb some stairs and travel through a long hallway. Don't worry about any sidepaths, just keep going straight untill you have to choose left or right. While you make your way there be careful of all the holes in the ground, we wouldn't want you to fall to your death. When you've made it to the end of the hallway go left and make your way down the winding staircase.
You have now made it to the old mines, one of the many mining locations we'll find on this journey. You can make your way around the wooden walkways, though you can't climb to the bottom of the pit. What many people don't know is that there is a second mining pit connected to this first one. Turn left immediately after you make it to the mines and walk untill the walkway get's one block wide. Here turn to your left where you'll see a woodblock that is a halfstep higher than the others. Climb over it and make your way down the natural staircase, a tunnel should appear to your left. If you follow that tunnel you should reach a second, much smaller mine. One cool fact is that this mine is accidentaly connected to a chasm that we'll get to later in this adventure.
While here take a screenshot of yourself in the mines and send it to me on the forums in a pm. At the end of this series I'm going to do a grand moria tour, I'll ask for something like this everyweek and if you get most of them you'll be courteously invited to the tour.

The Meeting Hall

If you've seen enough of the mines head on back up the winding staircase untill you get to the fork on the road at the top of the stairs. Instead of going back the way we came we'll turn left and descent another, though much straighter, flight of stairs. At the bottom we find the Meeting Hall, or at least it's been described as such by anyone who's ever told me about it. Though there is not much tolkien lore to suggest a specific meeting hall being here, there is lore about a meeting hall on the central 5th level, where the ambassadors of the seven tribes used to meet.
In the serverlore however it is just a meeting hall for some dwarves or others.

In next week's MCME times we'll resume the tour from this position and there will be a temporary warp to the meeting hall that week. This weeks Khazad-dûm warp will be deleted next sunday.

__Community Outreach

MCME Podcast:@rcpopcornman is running an unofficial podcast. If you listened in during the livestream, brilliant! If you missed it you can watch it back later, a vod should be uploaded by Tuesday. You can discuss it HERE.
Facebook Page: Have you checked out the MCME Facebook page? It is updated almost daily and provides not only great updates on the server, but also top screenshots, builds, promotions, and more! In other words, be sure to like us HERE.Planet Minecraft Page: As stated before, please vote for us every day HERE. This helps draw attention and commemoration towards the server and is really appreciated by the community. So do your part and support MCME!

Times Feedback: Have a thought concerning the presentation of the MCME Times and how it can be improved? Because I am always looking for new ways to mix up and improve the Times experience through any means necessary and, if you have a comment or concern, it's likely that someone else had it as well and just didn't say anything about it. So be sure to message me your thoughts on the forums.

__Closing Statement

That's all folks! I hope you enjoyed this weeks edition of the times especially the new content. I'm trying to add some stuff which will keep the times interesting even if there is a slow week projectwise. The alternative would be reducing the frequency with which the MCME times is released but I would rather not.

It's hard to get a hold of everyone at one time.
-Irufush1, every staff/enforcer/guide meeting ever.